Our Food to set up 20,000 food processing units across Telangana

While Rs 250 crore will be invested by Our Food, the rest will be through bank loans to farmers setting up the units and equity-cum-debt being raised by the startup

Hyderabad: Hyderabad-based agri tech startup, ‘Our Food’, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Telangana to set up over 20,000 micro food processing units across the State with a cumulative investment of Rs 1,535 crore over the next five years.

While Rs 250 crore will be invested by Our Food, the rest will be through bank loans to farmers setting up the units and equity-cum-debt being raised by the startup.

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These entrepreneurs will be provided with end-to-end solution for setting up the unit like providing loan from banks, setting up of machinery – which will be given by Our Food through their manufacturing unit in Zaheerabad – and providing them training on how to run the unit. And finally, the company will also handhold the farmers to sell their produce to either bulk buyers or to sell it through the company’s brand.

“We have developed eight different machines that we have set up at our plant in Zaheerabad which includes rice, pulses, spices, groundnut, millets, turmeric and a few vegetables. We are looking at setting up 5,000 units per year in the State and in the next four-five years we should be touching a total of 20,000 units. The agreement with the government will augment the process of setting up food processing units in the vicinity of the farms and will also generate rural employment and increase opportunities to improve farmer’s income,” said Balareddy, CEO, Our Food.

The startup, which was incubated in T-Hub in 2016, has already on-boarded 1,000-plus farmers across five States – Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. In the last financial year it had clocked in revenue of Rs 17.5 crore and is aiming for Rs 85 crore sales this financial year.

The collaboration, according to Balareddy, will create direct employment for at least 40,000 rural youth and indirect employment for at least 60,000 people. With nearly 500 farmers benefiting from one unit, a total of 20,000 units shall benefit more than 100 lakh farmers over a period of five years, he added.

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